Dressmaking update: my finished wedding dress

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to sit down and do some writing and sewing. It’s been a manic time at work because we’re at our busiest period of the year, and I’ve been working really hard to keep up with the workload. I’ve finally managed, over time, to finish my white wedding dress and I can’t wait to see what you think!

As you might’ve seen from my previous updates, the dress was nearly done, except I had to add the lining to it. The tricky part was, trying to tuck the raw edges of the lining under so it wouldn’t show on the edges of the dress itself or the arm holes with the sleeves.

I had already sewn the raw edges of the silk backed crepe and the lace so that it wasn’t visible.

The next step was to have the wrong side of the lining itself facing the wrong side of the dress so that the stitching is hidden even from the inside. Again, I tucked the raw edges of the lining to face the wrong side of the dress and pinned this.

All in all, it seemed to go by much quicker working on this dress than it did with the red dress. It took approximately 25 hours in total to get to where I wanted to be with my dress and I couldn’t be happier with the end result!

My somewhat finished white wedding dress

There are still final touches I want to finish on it closer to the time. The hem of the dress is currently cut straight, but I would like this to be following the design of the pattern itself, kind of like the edges of the hem on the blue Valentino inspired dress I made last year.

The hem of my Valentino-inspired lace dress

To do this, I’ll need to trim around the edges of the lace, but because its tightly woven lace, I’ll need to go around the edges I’ve cut to make sure these parts don’t fray. It’ll be a small detail, but something I’d like for the dress to look finished.

I’ve also left the arm hole unfinished where the side seams are so that I can make any necessary alterations. If the lining were sewn right round the arm hole, it would mean having to take this apart to make the alterations to then sew this again. I’ve also left the side seams unfinished for this reason, but I’m planning to get these finished closer to the time.

Now that the dresses are finished, hopefully there’ll be a break for me sometime soon to get started on the bridesmaid dresses!

Thanks Katy, I really love your dress as well and good effort! It must’ve taken you ages to do the gathers, the corset back (that’s beautiful by the way!), rolled hem, circle skirt AND a structured bodice!